Baroness Relief Fund Launches with the Help of Mastodon, Neurosis, Kylesa

Last summer, U.S. metal act Baroness and their crew suffered major injuries in a bus crash near Bath, England that sent them hurtling off a viaduct. The band are still recovering from the accident and have a number of health bills to pay, so a bunch of their pals have gathered up some goodies to auction off via the Baroness Relief fund.

A Facebook page for the fundraiser features a number of exclusive items that will eventually be put up for auction. A message from Baroness sound engineer Loopy Fiasco, Relapse Records manager Rennie Jaffe and the troupe's web guy explains that they "set out as friends of the band to do whatever we could to alleviate the band of their medical expenses and loss of income in their time of pain and journey back to being able to play again."

They added: "All proceeds from this auction will be given directly to the band and crew affected in as transparent way as possible. No one involved with organizing this will or wants to make any money from this event."

Items revealed so far include a signed LP from Kylesa, a snare drum signed by all the members of Neurosis, a Line 6 amp from Meshuggah, a beer holster donated by Red Fang, and the snare drum Brann Dailor used to record Mastodon's Leviathan LP. Other artists that contributed swag include Municipal Waste, Earthless, Victims and Napalm Death, among others.

Auction dates have yet to be revealed, but are anticipated to take place in the next few weeks.

As previously reported, Baroness vocalist/guitarist John Baizley suffered a broken arm and leg, drummer Allen Blickle and bass player Matt Maggioni both received fractured vertebrae, and guitarist Pete Adams experienced minor injuries. An investigation into the crash has the bus driver facing a number of charges, including dangerous driving, using a vehicle with defective brakes and breaching a 7.5 tonne weight limit. He's due in court April 5.